Mark 12

"41 Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. 42 Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites,[j] which make a quadrans. 43 So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; 44 for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood."

This is a very encouraging passage to those who feel like they do not have much. This can definitely be applied in more way than just monetarily. Here it is the 2 mites of the widow that touched the heart of Jesus. As we can see, it is percentage, not amount that Jesus looks at. It was the widows WHOLE livelihood.

We have learned in the parable of the talents, that everyone is given some amount of talent, no matter if it's 5000, 2000 or 1000. So no one can say that they have no talents, because that would be a complaint to God of His unfairness. Being the clay and not the potter, we cannot say why did the potter not paint rainbows or sunshine on our pot. We know what the consequence is for the one that received 1000 and did nothing with it. Therefore, as we are given talents, no matter the amount, it is the percentage that we offer to God that counts.

This can definitely be applied to doing work for God. Do we ever think we are unable? Or that we have very little talents? Or we cannot handle certain tasks? If we have ever thought this, it is time for us to take this passage as an encouragement for us to step out. That whatever amount talent that God gave us, we need only to invest that and give it back to Him. I feel in Heidelberg we are very blessed because the church is so small, there are many opportunities to do work for God. Sometimes it may feel like we are forced to do certain tasks that we feel uncomfortable doing, or feel that we are not good enough to do it, or too young for it; but because it's such a small church, we are unable to reject the work so easily. I think we are all very fortunate to be in such an enviornment where we have ample opportunity to serve God. And it is also comforting to see everyone trying their very best. The shy ones being put to translate, the inexperienced being scheduled to give a sermon, those who never cooked for so many volunteering for the task, etc...Keep up the good work! God will add to those who are willing to serve Him and increase their talents.

This is also a good environment for us to be trained for the future when the church grows. At that time, the church will need even more workers. The new believers would need to be strengthened in faith prior to their servitude. So who does that leave to do the work for the time being for even more people than now? The oldtimers :) Yes, us! So not only are we doing the work for God currently, we are also preparing for the time when we need to step up for more tasks when the church grows. Let's just imgine if God brings us 100 truthseekers this coming Sabbath, would we be ready and able to handle all of them? Perhaps even Beni will need to step up at that time. So let us prepare ourselves and encourage one another to grow in our service to our God and Father. And to offer our '2 mites' to God as the widow did. May the Lord help us.